Parents dissatisfied with schools says report

By Ben Willis, Children & Young People Now, 19 May 2009

An education charity has called for a "radical" overhaul of secondary schooling after revealing a lack of satisfaction among parents with the current system.

In a survey of more than 1,000 British parents published by the education foundation Edge, 28 per cent of respondents said school was not working for their children.

Just over a quarter of secondary school parents said they were worried their children are not happy at school. Almost half said they wanted to see more vocational and practical leaning for their children.

The findings prompted Edge to call for changes to the schooling system. Chief executive Andy Powell said the education system should be more flexible in responding to the specific talents of individual pupils.

He said: "We need to move away from the one-size-fits all system to one that is more tailored and more inclusive of practical and vocational learning, with young people given the chance to develop their own talents through real world experience."

But Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT teachers' union, said: "The most obvious point from the Edge survey is that three quarters of parents are content with their child's secondary education.

"Schools are striving to ensure all pupils are fully equipped with the knowledge and skills they need to be happy and successful. Rather than criticising teachers, Edge should consider how it can contribute to this important work."

Parents have been saying this for nearly two decades but it has fallen on deaf ears. In my opinion, the National Curriculum and GCSEs are the worse of both worlds. A dumbed down academic curriculum that doesn't do justice to higher ability students and a lack of quality practical and vocational learning.

I personally feel that I would have benefitted more from a vocational curriculum rather than the traditional academic curriculum that my secondary school offered. The trouble was that decent vocational courses were not around at the time I was at school.



Absolutely right but how the heck can it be implemented in a mainstream school system? The only sensible solution is home education backed up by learning centres or short courses offered at colleges to those who wish to take them.



Teaching union bosses are averse to changing the school curriculum because it will result in large scale job losses if certain subjects are abolished. The heavy hand of teaching unions explains why many aspects of schools are the way they are.



It will take a lot to convince me that most of what secondary schools teach is relevant or useful for life as an adult or preparation for employment. I feel that I have never been successful at building a career despite leaving school with many A grade GCSEs including maths and separate sciences.